(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the techniques and equipment to sample fluids and substances from gastrointestinal (GI) tract for medical diagnosis and research.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The composition of the GI fluids provides very useful information for doctors to diagnose patients for GI tract diseases. It indicates the physiological or pathological conditions of a patient, such as nutrient absorption, drug metabolism, microorganism distribution, and so on. Currently, samples of GI tract fluids are taken using mechanical devices, such as endoscopes. This type of devices are very expensive and inconvenient to use. They also cause pain and anxiety to patients, which may induce a significant change in the samples to be collected. Thus, GI tract fluids are not routinely sampled which has significantly limited doctors' accessibility to important information.
Simpler, more convenient and less expensive devices for GI tract fluid sampling are long awaited. The current invention meets this demand. It is totally different from the prior art in design and method.